Inner Right Wing of an Altarpiece with St Elizabeth Tending the Sick in Marburg and the Death of St Elizabeth

Technical notes

The original support, which has been sawn through crosswise, consists of four vertically grained oak planks (27.2, 29.3, 24 and 28.6 cm). It has been planed down to approx. 0.1 cm and transferred to a new panel, which is covered by a zinc plate. The white ground must have been applied in the frame. There are unpainted edges approx. 0.5-1 cm wide on all sides, and the barely visible remains of a barbe (painted surface: 125.5 x 108.3 cm). The underdrawing was made with a brush. It is a line drawing only, and some of the lines are remarkably thick. There is no hatching. The underdrawing was made rapidly, but not all the forms were prepared. There are considerable departures from the drawn composition and forms in the painted surface, in both the foreground and background. The figure of St Elizabeth in the left foreground, for instance, was drawn upright but now leans forwards. There was also a radical shift of the burial scene, which was planned much lower down in the underdrawing. The two angels bearing Elizabeth’s soul were added to the composition at a later stage. The paint layers were applied rather thickly. Most of the figures were not reserved, but were painted on top of the underlying paint layers. The rather rough painting technique can be described as primitive.